Case structure for server

ABSTRACT

A case structure suitable for a server is provided, which includes a first plate and a second plate. A fixing pillar is disposed on the first plate, and the second plate has a fixing rack with a locking portion and an assembly spring with a lock cooperating hole for being penetrated by the fixing pillar. The locking portion is used to lock an engaging portion of the fixing pillar so as to fix the second plate to an assembly position. When the assembly spring is activated by forces and departs from the fixing pillar, the second plate can be shifted from the assembly position to a disassembly position and departs from the first plate.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a server. More particularly, thepresent invention relates to a case structure for a server.

2. Description of Related Art

In a server system, a general rack mountable server is formed by placinga plurality of servers on a railway of a fixing rack, and placing adisplay device, a keyboard, a mouse and a keyboard-video-mouse (KVM)switch on a platform of the fixing rack, so as to supervise a certainserver according to a selection of the KVM switch.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a conventional server. Referring to FIG.1, the server 100 includes a casing 110, a front top cover 120 and aplurality of slots 132 for accommodating plug & play hard drives 130.The casing 110 has a top plate 112. The front top cover 120 covers thetop plate 112 of the casing 110. Two sidewalls 122 of the front topcover 120 respectively have a groove 124, and tenons 114 of the casing110 are suitable for fixing into the grooves 124, so as to fix the fronttop cover 120 on the top plate 112. Moreover, in the conventionaltechniques, to prevent a dislodging of the front top cover 120 from thecasing 110 during transportation, a complicated fixing/releasingstructure (not shown) is further disposed on the sidewalls 122 toimprove stability of assembly. However, when an assembler is about todisassemble the front top cover 120, he has to respectively pull awaythe fixing/releasing structure located on both sides of the front topcover 120 with two hands. Therefore, it is inconvenient for application,and may decrease a convenience of assembling.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to a case structure for a server,which has a simplified fixing/releasing structure for improving aconvenience of assembly/disassembly.

The present invention provides a case structure for a server, whichincludes a first plate and a second plate. The first plate includes afixing pillar having an engaging portion. The second plate is disposedon the first plate, and a fixing rack and an assembly spring aredisposed on the bottom of the second plate, wherein the fixing rack hasa locking portion used for locking the engaging portion of the fixingpillar, so as to fix the second plate to an assembly position. Theassembly spring has a lock cooperating hole located above the lockingportion and suitable for being penetrated by the fixing pillar. Theassembly spring further has an elastic bending part normally relied uponthe fixing rack. When the elastic bending part of the assembly spring isactivated by forces and departs from the fixing pillar, the second plateis shifted from the assembly position to a disassembly position anddeparts from the first plate.

The present invention provides another case structure for a server,which includes a first plate and a second plate. The first plateincludes a fixing pillar having a groove. The second plate is disposedon the first plate, and a fixing rack and an assembly spring aredisposed on the bottom of the second plate, wherein the fixing rack hasa locking portion disposed along a horizontal moving direction. Thelocking portion has an opening width at a first position less than thatat a second position. The assembly spring has a lock cooperating holelocated corresponding to the first position. When the second plate movesalong the horizontal moving direction, and the groove is located at thefirst position of the locking portion, the fixing pillar is fixed to thelocking portion. The lock cooperating hole is suitable for beingpenetrated by the fixing pillar.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the fixing rack has a slot,and the elastic bending part extends outside the slot and forms anactivating end.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the locking portion of thefixing rack includes a V-shape slot. Moreover, the engaging portion ofthe fixing pillar includes a gap or an annular slot. In addition, thefixing pillar includes a bolt or a rivet, and the assembly spring may bea metal elastic element.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the second plate includes twosidewalls and a middle flat part located between two sidewalls. Thefixing rack and the assembly spring may be disposed on the middle flatpart.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the locking portion of thefixing rack includes a gourdshaped hole.

In the present invention, fixing/releasing of the second plate may beperformed simply via operation of the fixing rack and the assemblyspring. Therefore, it is convenient in operation compared to theconventional complicated fixing/releasing structure.

In order to make the aforementioned and other objects, features andadvantages of the present invention comprehensible, a preferredembodiment accompanied with figures is described in detail below.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a conventional server.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating a case structure for a serveraccording to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating a bottom of the second plateof FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a case structure for a serveraccording to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 are cross-sectional views of the assembly spring andthe second plate of FIG. 4 when being activated by forces.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram illustrating a bottom of a second plateaccording to another embodiment of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating a case structure for a serveraccording to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is aschematic diagram illustrating a bottom of the second plate of FIG. 2.FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a case structure for a serveraccording to an embodiment of the present invention. In the presentembodiment, a rack mountable server is taken as an example, which mayinclude a control circuit board, a plurality of slots for accommodatingplug & play hard drives and a casing. Though the rack mountable serveris not illustrated in detail in the present embodiment, those skilled inthe art may refer to the illustration of FIG. 1 for a reference.

Referring to FIG. 2, the case structure 200 of a server includes a firstplate 210 and a second plate 220. The first plate 210 may be a top plateof a server casing 202, and the second plate 220 may be a front topcover disposed on the first plate 210. Next, referring to FIG. 2 andFIG. 4, the first plate 210 has a fixing pillar 212. The fixing pillar212 is fixed on a top surface of the first plate 210 and protrudes fromthe top surface, and the fixing pillar 212 has an engaging portion 214which may be an annular slot with an incision depth, or the fixingpillar 212 may have a gap on its edge located adjacent to a fixing rack230, used for locking the fixing rack 230 of the second plate 220.

Next, referring to FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, the second plate 220 has thefixing rack 230 and an assembly spring 240 on its bottom. The fixingrack 230 may be integrally formed with the second plate 220, and has alocking portion 232 (for example, a V-shape slot) used for locking theengaging portion 214 of the fixing pillar 212, so as to fix the secondplate 220 to an assembly position A. An opening width at a tip end ofthe V-shape slot is less than that at an opening end of the V-shapeslot, and therefore when the second plate 220 moves along a horizontalmoving direction relative to the fixing pillar 212, the fixing pillar212 may move from the opening end of the V-shape slot to the tip end ofthe V-shape slot, so as to fix the engaging portion 214 of the fixingpillar 212 to the tip end of the V-shape slot. Moreover, in absence ofexternal force, the assembly spring 240 may normally rely on the fixingrack 230. The assembly spring 240 has a lock cooperating hole 242located above the locking portion 232, which is used for beingpenetrated the fixing pillar 212 to confine a horizontal movement of thesecond plate 220 relative to the first plate 210.

As described above, the assembly spring 240 may be a metal elasticelement having an elasticity restoring ability. The assembly spring 240has an elastic bending part C. The fixing rack 230 may has a slot P,such that the elastic bending part C may extend outside the slot P toform an activating end 244. Referring to FIG. 5 and FIG. 6, FIG. 5 andFIG. 6 are cross-sectional views of the assembly spring and the secondplate of FIG. 4 when being activated by forces. When assembly spring 240is activated by forces and departs from the fixing pillar 212, theactivating end 244 is pushed upwards for a distance, and when the lockcooperating hole 242 of the assembly spring 240 is not interfered withthe fixing pillar 212, the fixing rack 230 may be released from thefixing pillar 212 by moving the second plate 220 along the horizontalmoving direction to depart from the fixing pillar 212, and accordingly,the second plate 220 may move from the original assembly position A to adisassembly position B, and departs from the first plate 210.

According to the above description, when the second plate 220 isassembled to the first plate 210 or disassembled from the first plate210, fixing/releasing of the second plate 220 may be performed simplyvia operation of the fixing rack 230 and the assembly spring 240.Therefore, the case structure provided by the present invention isconvenient in utilization and may substitute the conventionalcomplicated fixing/releasing structure for assembly/disassembly of thefront cover.

Moreover, compared to the conventional techniques, the fixing pillar 212(for example, bolt or rivet) fixed between the first plate 210 and thesecond plate 220 may further enhance a structural strength of the secondplate 220. Referring to FIG. 3, the second plate 220 may have twosidewalls 222 and a middle flat part 224 located between the twosidewalls 222. The structural strength of the middle flat part 224 isrelatively poor compared with that of the two sidewalls 222. Allocationof the fixing rack 230 and the assemble spring 240 on the middle flatpart 224 of the second plate 220 is not only convenient for operationand observation, but may also improve a support to the second plate 220via the fixing pillar 212 of the first plate 210, such that thestructural strength of the whole case structure 200 may be enhancedaccordingly.

In addition, in the above embodiment, the first plate 210 of FIG. 4 mayalso be a bottom plate or a plate of other parts of the server casing202 besides just being the top plate. The first plate 210 may lock thesecond plate 220 by engaging the fixing pillar 212 with the lockingportion 232 (for example, a V-shape slot).

As to the structure and shape of the locking portion, the presentinvention provides another embodiment which may achieve a same functionas that of the above embodiment. FIG. 7 is a schematic diagramillustrating a bottom of a second plate. Referring to FIG. 7, the secondplate 220 has a fixing rack 230 and an assembly spring 240 on itsbottom. The fixing rack 230 has a locking portion 234 (for example, agourdshaped hole) disposed along a horizontal moving direction, which isused for locking the engaging portion 214 of the fixing pillar 212 ofFIG. 4 to fix the second plate 220. In the present embodiment, anopening width of the locking portion 234 at a first position D1 isdifferent from that at a second position D2. Namely, the opening widthof the second position D2 allows the fixing pillar 212 verticallypenetrating through, and the opening width of the first position D1 mayonly allow the engaging portion 214 of the fixing pillar 212horizontally passing through for engaging the fixing pillar 212, suchthat a vertical movement of the second plate 220 relative to the firstplate 210 is confined. Moreover, the assembly spring 240 has a lockcooperating hole 242 located corresponding to the first position D1 ofthe locking portion 234, which is used for being penetrated by thefixing pillar 212 to confine a horizontal movement of the second plate220 relative to the first plate 210. In summary, the case structure ofthe server of the present invention has a simplified fixing/releasingstructure, which may effectively improve a convenience of assembly.Therefore, a user may swiftly assemble or disassemble the second platewithout the aid of tools, which is very convenient for application.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that variousmodifications and variations can be made to the structure of the presentinvention without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention.In view of the foregoing, it is intended that the present inventioncover modifications and variations of this invention provided they fallwithin the scope of the following claims and their equivalents.

1. A case structure for a server, comprising: a first plate, comprising a fixing pillar having an engaging portion; and a second plate, disposed on the first plate, comprising a fixing rack and an assembly spring on a bottom thereof, wherein the fixing rack has a locking portion for locking the engaging portion of the fixing pillar so as to fix the second plate to an assembly position, and the assembly spring has a lock cooperating hole located above the locking portion, which is suitable for being penetrated by the fixing pillar, wherein the assembly spring further has an elastic bending part normally relied upon the fixing rack, when the elastic bending part of the assembly spring is activated by forces and departs from the fixing pillar, the second plate is shifted from the assembly position to a disassembly position and departs from the first plate.
 2. The case structure for a server as claimed in claim 1, wherein the fixing rack has a slot, and the elastic bending part extends outside the slot to form an activating end.
 3. The case structure for a server as claimed in claim 1, wherein the locking portion comprises a V-shape slot.
 4. The case structure for a server as claimed in claim 1, wherein the engaging portion comprises a gap or an annular slot.
 5. The case structure for a server as claimed in claim 1, wherein the fixing pillar comprises a bolt or a rivet.
 6. The case structure for a server as claimed in claim 1, wherein the assembly spring comprises a metal elastic element.
 7. The case structure for a server as claimed in claim 1, wherein the second plate comprises two sidewalls and a middle flat part between the two sidewalls, and the fixing rack and the assembly spring are disposed on the middle flat part.
 8. A case structure for a server, comprising: a first plate, comprising a fixing pillar having a groove; a second plate, disposed on the first plate, comprising a fixing rack and an assembly spring on a bottom thereof, wherein the fixing rack has a locking portion disposed along a horizontal moving direction, and the locking portion has an opening width at a first position less than that at a second position, the assembly spring has a lock cooperating hole located corresponding to the first position, and when the second plate moves along the horizontal moving direction and the groove is located at the first position of the locking portion, the fixing pillar is locked to the locking portion, and the lock cooperating hole is suitable for being penetrated by the fixing pillar.
 9. The case structure for a server as claimed in claim 8, wherein the locking rack has a slot, the assembly spring has an elastic bending part relied upon the fixing rack, and the elastic bending part extends outside the slot to form an activating end.
 10. The case structure for a server as claimed in claim 8, wherein the locking portion comprises a gourdshaped hole.
 11. The case structure for a server as claimed in claim 8, wherein the locking portion comprises a V-shape slot, and the opening width of a tip end of the V-shape slot at the first position is less than that of an opening end of the V-shape slot at the second position.
 12. The case structure for a server as claimed in claim 8, wherein the assembly spring comprises a metal elastic element. 